# Puff Monthly Tobacco Review: GLP JackKnife Plug



## Nick S. (Jul 10, 2011)

Well June is here and that means it is finally time to pop open those cans of JKP, when you are ready post your reviews, thoughts, and comments here in this thread.


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## kbiv (Jul 30, 2010)

Should be coming today, and hopefully in the bowl tonight...


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## kbiv (Jul 30, 2010)

Should be coming today, and hopefully in the bowl tonight...


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

Wow! Today is the 12th and no reviews yet? :ask: I guess I'll start!

Machurtado kindly sent me about 3/4 ounce of Jackknife Ready Rubbed. Thus, I can't really speak to the moisture content in the tin. My sample arrived a little on the dry side - not bad, not quite crunchy, but definitely ready to smoke. My guess is that it lost some moisture on the way to me. It's medium chocolate brown in color, with a few lighter and darker flecks. The cut is broken and fully rubbed flake...as memory serves, similar to HOTW, though perhaps larger diameter and shorter length. The smell in the bag is faint - neutral tobacco, hint of sweetness, hint of sharpness.

The flavor profile actually reminds me of a rich spicy cigar. Spicy, not peppery...I consider these to be two separate sensations, though they often occur together. No pepper, just spicy, and rich tobacco flavor. If I really slow down and REALLY pay attention, I pick up a tiny hint of sweet chocolate, which is a very nice surprise. But the main flavor player for me is rich tobacco. That sounds boring, but I assure you it is not! 

I found Jackknife extremely well behaved in the pipe. It will go out and require a relight if I set the pipe down for a few minutes, but as long as I'm maintaining a normal smoking cadence, it never goes out. I think if I were careful, I could smoke a whole bowl on a single paper match! Smokes cool with never a hint of bite.

Jackknife isn't the strongest blend I've ever smoked, but it is definitely strong. I rank it right up there with Royal Yacht nicotine-wise, possibly even a bit stronger.

Though I usually prefer a cob, I found that Jackknife smokes better in a briar - it seems a little smoother and more refined. Which brings me to my only quibble with it - the flavor profile seems a little busy, a little ragged, rough around the edges. Not bad, but I would prefer it to be a bit smoother. I have no doubt that this will completely go away with proper aging.

My verdict: FANTASTIC! I will definitely be buying some to age. I assume that the flavor profile will be the same, but I plan to try a plug, just out of curiosity...though my guess is that laziness will prevail and that I will prefer the ready rubbed.


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## Desertlifter (Feb 22, 2011)

Mine was a bit over-dry, so I'm conditioning it today and will post up tomorrow!

Also curious about the difference between the plug and RR - if someone has tried both I'd love to hear about the difference(s).


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

I've often wondered how misspellings wind up on storefronts, signs, billboards, labels and such. I find it a bit mysterious that they chose to make "jackknife" two words, but there we have it. Maybe there's a person named Jack Knife, possibly Mack the Knife's brother, who has some association with the amazing Mr. Pease. I mused over this as I clipped little pieces off a corner of the plug with the amazing cigar cutter that MiamiMike included in his bomb: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-tobacco-bombs/311179-surprise-attack-pennsylvania.html . It certainly makes preparation easy! (Thanks, Mike! :tu) I cut off chunks and slices, SWR chunky and LNF thin, noting that this plug was somewhat moister than my first.

Once again, I have called on the trusty Mayfair to give a fair first estimate of this plug's worth. I'd say its perfect for truck drivers and contestants in iron man competitions. Filtering the tobakreviews for others' strength ratings, I find "Overwhelming", "Very Strong" and a lot of "Strong", but remain baffled by the occasional "Medium" -- or even "Mild"! The last can gave me the hiccups a few times and this can seems on track to be potent as well, unsurprisingly. I like Irish Flake, the GH&Co. offerings in general, Royal Yacht and Bayou Morning Flake, so strong tobacco is no stranger to my pipes. I'd put this one somewhere between Irish Flake and Happy Bogie, which is to say, quite strong.

Because it was a bit wet it took me a three matches to get it started properly, but burned evenly and stayed lit once under weigh. This can has eight months on it and does seem a little smoother than my first, smoked "green", but it is not what I'd call a gentle smoke at all; snorking it definitely gives your sinuses something to think about. Damping for a little more smoke, JKP delivers a fine dose of nicotine. p Excellent! It's a full-tasting smoke with no apparent toppings, sort of like Scotch Flake and Kendal Kentucky mixed 50/50 -- but stronger.

After my humiliating performance in the Pipe Blind Taste Test III, I won't offer any observations about the flavor profile, other than to say this is one of my favorite tobaccos right now. Glad I have another three cans on ice, but I will be ordering more -- especially now that I have that cutter! :tu


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## Desertlifter (Feb 22, 2011)

Well, this smells pretty good and comes with lots of positive thoughts (at least during voting), and it fits with my current GLP love affair so I was really looking forward to trying this one, at least on those counts.

On the other hand, I've not really had much success/love for Kentucky blends as of yet, which JKP certainly is. On to the bowl.

Rubbed this one out and packed the bowl easily. The tobacco lit immediately and stayed lit until I damped it upon arriving at work. Initially I liked it, but it seemed like there was something missing. That "missing" piece only came more to the fore as I continued the smoke. There was a slight sweetness in the beginning that I noted - no doubt from the VA in the blend - but that disappeared and hid itself somewhere "way down there." Nothing showed on the retrohale but a bit of pepper and tobacco - pretty much like a cigar, as other posters have mentioned. By the time that I got to the end of the bowl it was like....a cigarette.

Except for one thing. I simply don't get much vitamin "N" out of this blend. Don't know why, but I would actually describe this as medium in both strength and body. Make that medium in strength and light-medium in body. I can see the attraction to this blend, but it isn't really my cup of tea - kind of like the Rattray's blends that I have tried.


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

Desertlifter said:


> Also curious about the difference between the plug and RR - if someone has tried both I'd love to hear about the difference(s).


I'm curious as well. If I had known how much I would like it, I certainly would have bought a plug and RR to compare for this month's review. I've got a bunch of other new stuff queued up right now, so it will probably be a while before I get to it, but I plan to pick up a tin of RR and a tin of plug to compare side by side. I'll post my thoughts in this thread when I get to it. Be patient, though....it might be a month or so before I get to it.


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## mikebjrtx (May 21, 2012)

I had the ready rubbed version. It was nice and had a medium nicotine hit but I kept wanting more from it. It starts out with a sweet slightly fruity flavor kind of like raisen bran, but the fruit and most of the sweet fades too soon. I could get a little more out of it if I pushed it, but then it got a little bitey. Not one that I would seek out, I like tobaccos that have flovors that sneek up on you.


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## kbiv (Jul 30, 2010)

Finally got to open this up. Since my job change from last December I've been working a different schedule, mainly 12 hour shifts at night. I'm still not up there with most of you as in bowls per day, I will usually smoke one the day before I begin a run of shifts. It keeps me awake at nights, and gets me focused for my job.
That said, I usually gravitate towards the easy stuff that I don't have to mess with, such as PA. I got this can last Saturday, and between work and school haven't had time to mess with it. The thought of trying to work with a plug was rather daunting for someone at 4 am. But I promised myself I would.
Once I popped the can, I was happy to find the "brownie", and also enough loose strands, that I figured I might be able to get a bowl or two without too much work. I had just read the musketballing thread, and in short, it didn't work too well. I had just finished a breakfast/supper, (what do you call your 3 am meal?) of carne guasada tacos, so my tastebuds were well nuked. My fluid of choice was Zieganbach, an amber beer. 
Loaded the pipe up and began to light. and light, and light. I'm willing to blame my inexperience with any loading other then stuffing. The taste I got was pretty much cigar in nature.
Had to do several relights, and finally got tired of it.
The bad- 
requires attention in loading. Some experience or learning, and daylight would help.
The taste never really developed. Nothing wrong with it, reminded me somewhat of the H. Upmans I'm fond of, just no changes. Once again, I live on Tex-Mex, ymmv.
The good-
I still have a cool looking plug!! I'll shred the remaining pieces for easier loading, and throw the plug in a mason jar, for a time that I can fully savor the experience. I don't think it will make it into the 4 am rotation, but someday I'll have some time again.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

kbiv said:


> I had just read the musketballing thread, and in short, it didn't work too well. ...
> 
> Once again, I live on Tex-Mex, ymmv.
> The good-
> I still have a cool looking plug!! I'll shred the remaining pieces for easier loading, and throw the plug in a mason jar, for a time that I can fully savor the experience. I don't think it will make it into the 4 am rotation, but someday I'll have some time again.


I don't think JK[sic]P would musketball well either. A little too nonuniform the way I cut it up to make a decent ball and probably a bit dry too. Works much better with a finer flake. Even a dry flake that would rub out beautifully won't musketball well.

A nice, honest review! :tu Think you need to rub this one out, KB.

And I'm with you on the Tex-Mex!! I really miss being able to pick up a quick Tex-Mex for dinner. Not available around here, AT ALL. They just don't get it. There are "Mexican restaurants" around here, but they SUCK!! BTW, are the Taco Bueno's still good, or even around any more? When I lived in Dallas in the 70s, they had superior burritos and tacos -- and guacamole! Really good. Hopefully, they didn't turn into Taco Bell. I'd donate a kidney for one of those, ala 1978, in Rome. sigh. But I make mean burritos and tacos myself these days, so it isn't complete Tex-Mex deprivation. :smile: The best Mexican restaurant I ever went to was in Dallas, Guadalajara's. Used to go there a lot. (Helps to know a little Spanish, but don't look in the kitchen! :lol


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## kbiv (Jul 30, 2010)

Taco Bueno's seem to be making a comeback. There's one up the road in San Marcos, but I haven't tried it. Their pintos and cheese were pretty good 20 something years ago, maybe they haven't changed. As far as the restauraunts, they seem to lose the "Tex" part pretty fast and keep the "Mex". It's always a good skill to learn to cook it yourself. I've lived off the last two batches of carne guasada for better part of two weeks now!!


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